Bucks Co. Man To Sit On Review Board Of Uvalde, Texas Mass Shooting

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A former candidate for Bucks County sheriff and retired Pennsylvania state trooper has been asked by federal officials to join a review board of the police response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Most recently, Mark Lomax lost his bid for Bucks County Sheriff in late 2021 to Fred Harran. But he's also a former Warminster supervisor who has consulted for the United Nations on police management.

Uvalde authorities have faced heavy criticism for their response to the shooting. Bystanders and parents begged officers to enter the school during the shooting, which left 22 dead, including 19 children. Investigations into the response have been launched on both the state and federal level.

According to the Bucks County Courier Times, the U.S. Department of Justice reached out to Lomax earlier in June. Lomax is scheduled to leave for Texas in the near future. If he joins the team, which consists of nine members, he will oversee the issues related to practices for active shooter situations, and specific actions that were taken during the incident.

"The purpose of this is to give a total and thorough review of what happened, and to come up with recommendations and best practices for the future," Lomax told the Courier Times. "That is what the team has been charged with."

“Nothing can undo the pain that has been inflicted on the loved ones of the victims, the survivors, and the entire community of Uvalde,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in annoucing the investigation. “But the Justice Department can and will use its expertise and independence to assess what happened and to provide guidance moving forward.”

Lomax has also worked as a member of a peace-keeping continent in the United Nations, a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and as former executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, a professional group for law enforcement involved in special operations, according to the Courier Times.

Lomax reached the rank of major with the Pennsylvania State Police, where he served for 27 years. He was also executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association for five years.